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At Least 42 Killed in Forest Fires in Algeria

At least 42 people have been killed in forest fires ravaging Algeria, including 25 soldiers working to put out the fires. Algeria’s Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud on Tuesday blamed the dozens of fires, said to have started at the same time, on arson, though he did not provide any evidence.

“Only criminal hands can be behind the simultaneous outbreak of about 50 fires across several localities,” he said of the fires sweeping through the mountainous Kabyle region, located 60 miles east of the capital Algiers.

Massive fires also are blazing in Turkey and Greece as the area battles an oppressive heatwave.